in/on Victoria Street

Fred   Tue Dec 05, 2006 6:30 pm GMT
Hi!

Is "go straight ahead in Victoria Street" or "go straight ahead on Victoria Street" correct? Both sentences sound a bit odd, but I can't think of anything better.

Thanks!
Robin   Thu Dec 07, 2006 12:19 am GMT
Go down Victoria Street.

(or, Go up Victoria Street.)

Normally you go down, when you go South.

You go up when you go North.

The place you want to visit is in Victoria Street.

The place you want to visit is on Victoria Street.
Jim   Thu Dec 07, 2006 12:53 am GMT
Suppose going south entailed going uphill. To me it would seem very odd to say "go down the street" in this case. In fact I wouldn't tend to match going down the street with going south (nor up with north) unless I were looking at a map.
User   Thu Dec 07, 2006 1:05 am GMT
I don't think it has much to do with North vs. South as you usually can't tell unless you have a compass with you (rare). For me go down the street and go up the street are fairly interchangable with a preference for the former.
Guest   Thu Dec 07, 2006 8:35 am GMT
It depends how macro or micro we're talking. If I lived in Marseilles, I'd say: down to Rome and up to Paris. e.g. I'm going down to Rome for the weekend.

In a locality, going uphill: up the road. Going downhill: down the road. But in a very general sense, either can be said.
Damian in Edinburgh   Thu Dec 07, 2006 12:03 pm GMT
If I was giving directions to someone, for example, who wanted to get from half way up Whitehall to Victoria Station (this is in Lodon) I would say something like this: "Go straight down Whitehall, past the entry to Downing Street, until you come to Parliament Square, turn right and walk on to the end of the Square then turn left at the sets of traffic lights; continue on towards Westminster Abbey which is facing you until you come to The Sanctuary. Turn right along this main street which eventually becomes Victoria Street. Go straight ahead on Victoria Street, all the way, past Westmister Cathedral on your left, and you will come to the very busy intersection close to the Victoria Palace theatre on your right. Cross over this intersection to your left and...hey presto! Victoria Station is facing you right ahead".

The "North / South : Up /Down" thing in the UK really depends on where you live. Here in this part of Scotland, when we say "Up north" we mean anywhere beyond Perth and the Trossachs - in other words up to the Highlands and the Cairngorms, or up to Aberdeen or Inverness or even further north. "Down South" here usually means England.

In England itself, the "North/South" divide is even more of an issue. People in the North of England always refer to anywhere south of, say, Birmingham, as "Down South". People in the South of England refer to anywhere north of Watford Gap (according to legend) as "Up North". The big area around Birmingham, Wolverhampton, Derby, Leicester, Nottingham, Coventry, Warwick, Stratford upon Avon, Worcester, Northampton, etc, anywhere north of Watford Gap is technically called The Midlands. To them anywhere north of them is The North and south of them is "The South".

God knows where the people of East Anglia stand on this issue.

As for Wales, there is an even stronger North / South divide there. It seems that both groups regard the other as alien species. Where people from Mid Wales stand is anyone's guess.

London.......people in Scotland, Wales, the North and Midlands of England, northern parts of East Anglia always say they are "Going down to London". In the South of England, the southern part of East Anglia, and in the West Country they always say "Going up to London".

PS: Corby, Northamptonshire is known as the Yob Capital of England. Please don't research into the ethnicity of the majority of the residents of Corby.......I'd rather you didn't.
as previous   Thu Dec 07, 2006 12:05 pm GMT
"This is in Lodon = typo - should read London of course.